Power
by Girl Of Hope
Summary: No one is invincible, it doesn't matter if they have powers or not. Piper and Leo knew this, but couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to their family. This story focuses on Wyatt, Chris and Melinda; and what it is like to be three of the most powerful witch hybrids to walk the Earth.
1. Prologue

_**A.N. Okay, I have finally started writing again after, how long has it been?**_

 _ **As you might be able to tell, this is my take on what has been dubbed Charmed: The Next Generation. I do already have one way I want to go with this.**_

 _ **This is also something where I am not certain about the length of the actual fic itself. For all I know, this may end up being short.**_

 _ **Oh, and I plan for the next chapter to set place at the age of when Wyatt and Chris are 25 and 23, respectably (because Chris had to be the only Halliwell sibling to Piper and Leo who has his birthday towards the end of the year).**_

 _ **I have also guessed Melinda's age, since it doesn't seem like there is a certain date for her birthday, and I made the executive choice to not have it too close to Wyatt's. Correct me if I'm wrong, his birthday is February 2**_ _ **nd**_ _ **.**_

 _ **Phoebe and Paige's kids won't be in this fic much, since I would rather focus on the three most powerful witches in this generation.**_

 _ **Big Author's Note, but I hope it's worth it. Enjoy!**_

* * *

The quiet was rare, days of peace few and far between.

Which was why Piper would pull out on of the family photo albums and study each photograph, recounting the time when each photo was taken.

She mused at how old fashioned a family album was becoming, everything was being stored and shared digitally, nothing was purely physical anymore. At least, anything worth sharing wasn't physical.

Demons didn't come in droves like they used to, the Charmed Ones were too big of a target, and nine of the next generation were all coming into their powers one by one.

Piper stopped on one photo, grazing her fingertips gently on the glossy surface.

Her, Leo, four-year-old Wyatt and two-year-old Chris. They were all smiling; all but Piper looking at the camera which Paige held, while Phoebe holding her shoulders to try and get a peek through the lens. Piper was smiling down at the baby cradled in her arms, swaddled in a light blanket.

Baby Melinda; born March 1st, 2007; the cursive writing below the photo read. Leo's handwriting.

Melinda was eleven now, Wyatt fifteen and Chris was almost fourteen.

"Hey, Mum do you know-" Wyatt opened the door to his parents' bedroom and found his mother sitting cross-legged on the giant bed, her back leaning against the extra fluffy, cloud like white decorative pillows with the family photo album opened in her lap. "Oh, sorry!"

Piper looked up from the photograph, smiling as her eldest son apologetically held his hands up and began to back out of the room.

"What is it, honey?" She smiled, and waved him closer. Wyatt sat on the edge of the bed and leaned backwards so that his head rested, admittedly this was quite uncomfortable for Piper, and Wyatt's head and neck made her shoulder dip down slight from the weight.

"Do you know where my homework is? I think I left it in here last night."

Piper rolled her eyes and shifted to the other end of the bed, pulling out a small pile from the second drawer of the bedside table. Wyatt smiled in response.

Wyatt and Chris were best friends, and close as brothers, almost like nothing would separate them. They ate together, did homework together, played together growing up (though, at their ages of fourteen and sixteen it was considered "hanging out"), made small potions together and studied together, whether it be magic or school work. Chris even took up a job at their mother's restaurant to be with his family.

"Do I need to get your dad to set up a study room?" Piper asked, handing the pile to her son.

"No." Wyatt answered quickly.

Wyatt and Chris favoured being in close proximity to their parents, and if they couldn't do that between Piper running her restaurant and fighting demons, and Leo teaching at Magic School, they would opt for the next best thing.

Taking over their parents' bedroom.

Melinda didn't understand the fascination with her brothers having to be in a space that their parents occupied as frequently as they did. Then again, she wasn't growing up the tumultuous time her brothers did. Most demons were now afraid of the Halliwell family, and any missions involving the Charmed Ones was considered a suicide mission.

Even going after any good beings in the Magic Community would garner unwanted attention from the three sisters.

Leo and Piper knew their sons felt safe when near their parents or occupying space they frequently habited. Living room, kitchen and their bedroom.

The attic wasn't as frequent now, usually Billie would be clanking and tinkering up there when she popped by for a visit, less so since she begun dating. Phoebe never understood why Billie didn't want to settle down with someone.

"Where are Chris and Mel? I thought they wouldn't be too far behind you."

"Chris is asleep and Mel is off reading somewhere. The usual." Wyatt shrugged.

Chris was getting to the stage where he usually only wanted to eat and sleep, and Mel was pretty independent for her age. Piper had taught Mel how to cook basic meals when she was seven, and often was found reading, trying to learn a different language (she was self-taught in Spanish and German) or researching from books from Magic School.

Piper could already see Wyatt and Chris turning into their selves from the future, Wyatt's hair had faded from brown to a dark blonde over time, she knew he'd be taller like his father, with similar eyes and hair.

Chris took on the Halliwell side, resembling more of Prue, which instilled Piper with an odd mixture of mourning and pride. She had never gotten over her older sister's death, but the fact that she had somewhat been reborn with Chris countered it.

Melinda was beginning to look like Piper, as well. Her hair was a dark shade of brown, long and straight, a longer shaped face, brown eyes, freckles below her eyes and around her nose and a smile that would light up a room. Leo mused that Melinda got her smile from her mother, that she and Piper had the same look in their faces when they were overjoyed.

"Is Dad at Magic School?"

"I think so. He spends a lot of time there."

Unfortunately, it was true. Leo adored his children, but even as a mortal was rarely home; most his energy was spent at Magic School, helping the students hone their magic to be used for the greater good. When he was home, he was resting.

Wyatt knew he had to work hard, and magic was something that was hard to separate from Leo, he had been a white lighter for fifty years, after all.

But Piper knew that Chris thought differently. That he would have a spark of recognition when Leo was being orbed to the school by Paige of Wyatt. He had told Piper about memories that weren't his; of a future version of himself fighting demons with the Charmed Ones. Chris knew Leo wasn't around because he didn't want to disappoint his children for his past, to keep them out of harm's way; the guilt of his past from feeling like his death during the war caused so many people to suffer, to not preventing older Chris dying, killing Elders and (though not his fault) abandoning Piper to avoid death by the Angel of Destiny taking him away.

For everything Leo was, he was a broken man with a good heart. Piper wouldn't trade him for the world.

Piper had the best life she could have; a great family, a successful business and the action of blowing demons up.

She never wanted what she had to change.


	2. Old Power

_**A.N. This was an idea for the big baddie that popped into my head last night and I really was happy to roll with it. I will also make sure it makes sense later on.**_

 _ **I'm getting my feel for the direction of where this is heading, and honestly, I feel like this isn't going to be too long of a fic.**_

 _ **I hope you all enjoy.**_

Chris and Melinda changed from their work clothes, satisfied they had left the restaurant clean enough after their shift. It was almost midnight in San Francisco.

"Remind me again why Wyatt wouldn't work tonight?" Mel asked her brother, pulling out a set of keys to lock everything up for the night.

"Mum decided it would be good to take him to do some demon hunting with her."

"Why didn't you go, then? Mum doesn't have a problem with you going." Mel stated as she made sure the front entrance was locked with the key.

"Mum isn't the problem, it's Dad that's stopping me."

"Does he keep thinking about what the other you did?"

"I think so," Chris curled one corner of his lip, he wore a sad smile.

Leo was over-protective of Chris and he knew that his second son was at the same age now as he was when he died in his father's past. Baby Chris was born at the same time as his alternate future-self died.

"Alright," Melinda spun on her heel, changing the subject. "Everything is locked up, time to head home!"

Chris wrapped an arm around his sister's tiny shoulders, orbing them out in the blue light that lit the dark restaurant. They landed in front of the couch in the living room, the fire burning in the fireplace (Leo had started it for when they arrived home to the manor); the siblings flopped back on the couch, each taking up one end.

The familiar light and soft sound of feet making contact with the floor made Chris rub his eyes; Mel looked how he felt, tired and run down, too close to sleep.

"How was the demon hunting?" Chris asked, his head lolling back into the small crevasse between the couch cushion and arm rest.

"Boring, almost all of the demons ran from us." Wyatt sat on the ground in front of his sister, she flicked the back of his ear indicating his to stop talking. She was too jealous that he got to hunt demons and tired from her shift to hear him talk. Luckily, Wyatt didn't seem much for conversation.

Even their mum was quiet.

"What's wrong, mum?"

Piper yelled out to Leo, quickly turning out of the room and up to the attic. The Book's pages flicked on their own, landing on a demon Piper hadn't thought about for years.

XXXX

Leo carried Mel to her bedroom, settling her in tucked tightly under the covers while Chris and Wyatt looked from the hallway.

As his children grew older, Leo had to remind himself that Piper would stop her demon hunts; Wyatt, Chris and Melinda would soon be taking over. It was bad enough that Phoebe and Paige had almost completely stopped demon action.

"Why did Piper go to the Book?" Leo asked Wyatt, whispering as he closed the door to Melinda's bedroom softly behind him.

"The last demon we found mentioned someone. You know, before she blew him up."

"Do you remember who them demon mentioned?" Wyatt shook his head in response; rubbing his eyes tiredly.

All three Halliwell-Wyatt children were in some form or another lacking their sleep. Wyatt was at college during the day, demon hunting at night; Chris had been picking up extra shifts at the family restaurant, and Mel had been at Magic School practising her craft and working the night shift with Chris. The children all felt as if they never stopped, going full throttle 24/7.

"Both of you get some sleep, I'll go and see your mum."

The boys mumbled their goodnights, Wyatt nearly fell asleep on his father's shoulder when giving him a light hug before shuffling off to their shared bedroom.

XXXX

"I _really_ hope that demon was lying." Piper said, still looking down at the Book when she heard Leo enter the attic.

"Who did the demon mention?"

"Zankou."

"Piper, I think you need to get Phoebe and Paige over here." Leo's hand held one of her smaller hands to stop her from crumpling up the pages of the Book of Shadows. There, on the open pages, was a picture of Zankou in the left half of the first page, a portrait of his face and shoulders surrounded by a curved oval red border with the ends at the top curing the opposite directions. Leo was reminded of an oval mirror with the elegant style of the border the Book had with higher level demons.

Beside and below, continuing onto the second page, was writing on Zankou, listing his powers and an added addition from the Charmed Ones regarding their encounter with him in 2005. Leo remembered the Avatars, the "Utopia" society had helped create, and how much it hurt to see his family be reliant on the Nexus.

"No," Piper rolled her head away from Leo, her hair pouring over her shoulder; a habit she had from being annoyed or wanting to change a subject. "They don't fight demons anymore."

"Maybe you shouldn't either."

Piper closed the Book, her index finder on her right hand tracing the shape of the triquetra on the cover. Despite the age of the Book of Shadows, the colours never faded because of the magic infused in the book.

"We can't let the demons win, Leo. I can't let them hurt my children!" She wiped her left eye, tears were trying to escape down her cheeks. It was rare nowadays for Leo to see weakness in Piper.

"There is another way we can prevent the demons, Piper."

"No," Piper stepped away from Leo, to their potion table. She started mixing up the strongest potions she knew how to make. "Not that way."


	3. Fire

_**A.N. I promise, there are a few good reasons for a BIG focus on Melinda. One of which is that since she was only introduced in the comics, we don't know much about her. The other motives will be clearer as time goes on. Plus, I can't always have a demon in every chapter!**_

Melinda had learnt self-defence early on and kept up with practice with her dad when she could.

It worked well for her so far!

She rounded on someone who had tapped her shoulder from behind, her left leg extended as she looked to kick the person in the head. Mel knew most attackers wouldn't make their presence known to her; but she never strayed on the side of danger.

The person behind her leaned back far enough to dodge the black boot nearing his face, chuckling lightly as he watched Melinda's hair swing wildly around her face.

"Sorry I scared you, Mel!" He smiled as she used her fingers to try and brush her hair back into place. "New boots?"

"Not funny, Jay!"

Jason, or as Mel had always called him, Jay, smiled as Mel huffed in frustration over her hair. He carefully rearranged her dark brown strands, so they were neat, and tucked the smaller sections at the front of her face behind her ears.

He neared six feet, had a small amount of muscle on his build, pale skin and bright red messy hair. He wore a dark blue silk button up, with dark wash jeans and black converse. His blue eyes seemed to compliment his skin, but clash with his hair; perfectly imperfect. Not that Mel would admit to it.

"You know I hate other people touching my hair," Mel moved away from Jason's grip, earning a smirk in return.

"That's never stopped me, has it?" He asked teasingly.

The pair had been friends for a few years. Jason didn't know anything about Magic, or demons or anything about her supernatural side. He never went over to the Manor, since she knew he would know something was weird, and hadn't met Wyatt yet. Mel couldn't trust him to keep their secret from her friend.

Jason had met Chris once, and managed to embarrass his little sister by playing the over-protective brother card and yelled that Mel was "too young to be dating".

She was 19 at that point.

Two years later, and Jason had stuck around after his one-time meeting with Melinda's brother, and never actually corrected him on the 'dating' situation. Jason was the kind of guy to literally and figuratively "roll with the punches".

"How are your classes going?" Jason asked, as the pair began walking across the pathway of the local college campus. Mel didn't want to go to some Ivy League school and be away from her parents and brothers.

"Really," Mel struggled not to laugh. "I nearly kick you in the face, and all you ask is how classes are going?"

"An important part of any friendship is to talk about anything and everything that is happening in each other's lives." Mel nodded dispassionately.

"Right." She drawled, her tongue making a _clicking_ sound at the end of the word. "They're about as good as expected, keeping me busy when I'm not working."

Melinda grabbed Jason's hand and pulled them both into a side area foliage to cover them if anyone Mel knew were to try and find her for notes for class.

"You're not making small talk for the hell of it," Melinda let go of Jason's hand. "Spill it."

Jason's eyes went wides for a moment, before looking down at his feet. He was nervous.

"Remember at your birthday party at my place last year how you somehow ended up with alcohol and we started drinking in an empty room?"

Melinda did remember vaguely. It was the _few_ exceptions she acted her age and became immature and reckless. She has sneakily orbed a bottle of vodka, a six pack of cokes, two tall glasses and a spoon, carefully running up the stairs to the room Jason has whispered to her about in her ear as they were dancing. They sat on the floor in the room with Mel's phone creating a small amount of light as they drank the mixed drinks.

"Yeah, what about it?" Mel questioned, her eyes narrowing in a similar fashion to her mums.

"I asked you out in there, and you just laughed it off."

She didn't drink before that night and had downed too much of her drinks too quickly, adding more vodka to the mixture. Mel ended up with a hangover the next morning and grounded for a week by Piper.

"I don't remember that." Mel _really_ didn't recall much of that happened after her second drink in the room with Jason.

"Well," Jason cleared his throat and wrung his hands nervously. "I was wondering… if you would be interested in… going out… with me?"

He sheepishly glanced from his feet to Mel's reddening face, a tiny embarrassed smile on his face. She had never seen her friend nervous before; completely throwing her off guard.

"Why do you-?"

"I haven't been able to get you out of my head lately, I don't know why!" Jason inhaled, having held his breath for too long after breathing out when Mel spoke.

"I – uh…" Melinda shuffled her feet backwards, nearly bumping into the tree behind her. "I… need to go – uh."

She ran into the closest women's bathroom she could find, made sure the area was clear and orbed into the living room in the Manor.

"Oh God!" Phoebe turned from kneeling down beside the fireplace, startled at Melinda's sudden appearance. She never really took much notice of the soft orbing sound.

"Hey, Aunt Phoebe." Mel shifted her eyes around the room. "Where's mum?"

"In the kitchen." Phoebe's mouth twisted, trying to guess what was going on. "Honey, are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fine, thanks!" Mel ran out of the room, going through the sunroom and dining area leading to the kitchen.

Piper, with her hair tied up in a messy pony tail, was stirring up something in one of the larger pots in the house.

"Demon potion?" Mel asked, carefully placing the books she almost forgot she carried in her arms on the nearby table and her messenger bag hanging from a chair.

"No," Piper said slowly, glancing down at an old, yellowing small book. "An old recipe that Grams' used to make. Thought I'd try it out."

Piper took in her daughter's appearance. They had matching hair and complexion, similar face and body shape; hell, even the same fashion sense. Her daughter had opted for a maroon thick cotton long sleeve shirt with her favourite, well-worn in jeans and black knee-high suede boots; Piper noted that was probably the only difference between them, Mel loved her boots.

"I know that look." Piper raised her eyebrows, knowing all too well her daughter needed to talk. It was the same look Piper would give one of her sisters when something was on her mind. "Spill it."

"Have I ever told you about Jason?" Mel started, sitting down on a stool at the kitchen island.

"A few times, college classes together, Chris mentioned something about not liking him." Piper took the pot off the hotplate she was using, placing a lid to prevent heat escaping. "You haven't brought him around even though you've known him for about three years."

"Well…" Mel inhaled, trying to calm herself down. "He asked me out!"

Piper leaned over the island and narrowed her eyes at her daughter.

"And you said?"

"I got the hell out of there and orbed here!" Piper's head dropped for a second. "I didn't know what to do, I just—"

Piper had walked around the table to Mel, bring her arms around her daughter's shoulders and pulling her close. Mel's head dropped onto her mother's chest, feeling her heart beat steady. Piper knew her daughter was struggling with tears of frustration and confusion.

"I thought you would have gone to Phoebe or Coop with something like this." Piper whispered, half-jokingly into her daughter's ear.

"With everything you and dad have gone through," Melinda sniffled and looked up at Piper's face. "I'd trust you and dad with this over any Cupid in the Magic Community or "Love Expert" in the normal world."

Piper found the tissues of the counter just behind her back, placed the box on the island counter beside the pair and began wiping Melinda's tears which freely flowed. She wiped below Mel's nose and threw the used tissues into a small waste bin nearby.

"Have you told him about Magic?" Melinda shook her head. "Then I think you should give it a chance with Jason."

"What?" Melinda whispered, unable to understand.

"You wouldn't be a mess if you didn't care about him in some way and, if the time comes, he might be more accepting of Magic." Piper pulled out her of daughter's grasp, fishing around him her bag for Melinda's phone. She handed it to Melinda. "Apologise and work something out with him."

Melinda smiled at her mother, jumping up to hug her tightly.

"Thank you!" Melinda said, muffled by Piper's shoulder.

Melinda, newly excited and energised, orbed her books and bag into her arms, smiled widely at her mum, and orbed into her bedroom.

"No personal gain!" Piper yelled as her daughter orbed out. Mel's giggle echoed as her light shot out of the room and up the stairs.

' _You never did give me an answer :/'_ Jason texted.

' _Saturday, 7 at my family's restaurant?'_ Melinda replied back, staring at her phone as if it would magically elicit a response from her friend. _"Or more than a friend?"_ Melinda thought, deciding that she didn't want to dwell on the semantics on where their relationship stood.

' _I'll dress up just for you ;)'_ She did suspect he would, to look decent as a joke to her, but presentable for her family.

Saturday night couldn't come any faster for her!


	4. (Memories) Forget Me Not

_**A.N. Personally, this was fun to write! Well worth reading, if I do say so myself! Enjoy everyone.**_

"Best laid plans of mice and men? Is that what I'm looking for here?" Leo questioned, sitting on a couch across from his daughter.

Piper had told him about Melinda's plan, once Mel had revealed the date to her mum later on after their discussion. Leo knew his daughter was growing up, but he didn't have to enjoy it.

"Dad, I've known him for like three years. He has no idea about witches or whitelighters or demons and I intend to keep it that way for as long as I can." Melinda said, trying to calm herself down more so than her father. "Plus, I actually like him."

"What if he doesn't accept the magic side of you?" Her dad had contradicted Piper instantly. "It's not an easy thing to deal with; look at Henry, he still has trouble with Paige's powers and now he's dealing with it in his children."

Melinda could almost hear Grandma Penny saying some snarky comment about men; mortal men to make matters worse. But for the time being, Great-Grams was leaving her alone… with dad. _'Who is the worse person to be stuck with talking about boys? Man-hating Grams, or my overly-protective dad?'_

"Can you try to be nice tonight, for me?" Melinda used the same look Piper would give him when she wanted something, head titled slightly to the left, chin down, sad eyes and a tiny smile. She was her mother, through and through. "Please, Daddy?"

"Okay," Leo conceded, giving his daughter a smile. "I can't promise anything for Chris and Wyatt, but I'll make an effort for you."

Melinda uncharacteristically squealed and orbed from the room; her excited sounds echoing for a moment as the blue light exited.

It was times like this, in awkward situations, where Leo missed orbing out of rooms spontaneously.

XXXX

"Go back to the green dress!" Wyatt and Chris sat against the railing outside of Melinda's bedroom as she tried on different clothes. Wyatt was the only one participating in making sure Melinda looked nice, Chris was mumbling that he didn't like Jason.

"Didn't Chris say that was too short?" Mel peeked her head from the ajar door, not revealing her body.

"Are you actually listening to Mr Grumpy Peanut?" Wyatt shot a glare to his younger brother as if they were kids again. Well, Chris thought Wyatt would always be a kid. "Because you should be listening to your favourite brother who wants what's best for you."

Mel shut the door, quickly changing back into the green dress Wyatt mentioned. It was strapless, decorated with translucent sequins down to the waistline before flowing into three layers of skirts at equal lengths down to her knees. She borrowed a pair of simple silver wedges from Aunt Billie, diamond studs from Aunt Paige and a pristine leather jacket from Wyatt he kept from when he was about thirteen which was still a tad bit longer than her arms.

"Remind me again why you wanted me to wear your jacket?" Mel questioned as she struggled with the sleeves, walking out from her bedroom to the hallway where her brothers were still sitting. Wyatt hauled himself to his feet and adjusted the sleeves on his old jacket.

"Because he needs to know that your big brother an Mr Peanut come first!" Chris almost growled at the nickname that he only allowed their mum to call him. "Chris will be on shift, but I won't be far away. You just won't see me."

"Yeah," Chris agreed, snorting out a short laugh. "You'll be too busy flirting with anyone good-looking at the restaurant by getting them free drinks and a cheap meal. I thought mum said you weren't allowed up at the bar section anymore because of what happened last time."

Wyatt had found a raven-haired girl, around Chris's age, ordering a drink at the bar in the restaurant. Despite the former club P3 being turned into a high-end restaurant, Piper still kept a 'dive' area at the back of the restaurant near the bathrooms in memory of her former business. The girl, Katie, ended up having too many drinks in a short span of time when she learnt Wyatt's mother owned the place and he was buying for her. She had made a mess in the women's bathroom as the restaurant was closing and Wyatt was forced to clean it up, escort Katie home (pulling over several times to the other side of town) and worked double time for a month to make up for the embarrassment.

"I'm not letting that happen again." Wyatt shuddered at the memory. "And I'll be stepping in if Jason goes too far!"

"Please don't knock him out, Chris!" Melinda pleaded, nervously looking at her brunette brother. He smiled and pulled her in for a hug.

"Only if I have to, baby sister." Mel rolled her eyes but smiled.

Melinda and Chris groaned when Wyatt joined the hug unexpectedly. This was going to be long night at this rate!

XXXX

Jason pulled up on the kerb outside of the Halliwell Manor, intaking the size of the two-storey house, with an attic to boot. He shook his head with a smile; Mel was right, this was the kind of house to be passed down generation to generation, there wasn't a single other structure like this on the same street. Hell, he didn't think there was another home like this in San Francisco!

Melinda hurried down the stairs before he registered the front door has opened.

Did the front door even open, or did Melinda just appear out of thin air?

She looked stunning either way!

Melinda had convinced Aunt Phoebe to curl her hair, securing the top layers with a large rectangular hair pin studded with a couple dozen fake diamonds; the curls framed her face perfectly.

"You did clean up?!" Melinda said shocked at Jason's appearance.

His normally messy red hair was brush, leaning to the right side of his face at the top and smoothed back at the sides, which were shorter. _'Haircut?'_ Melinda wondered. Jason picked out a crimson button up with a comfortable dinner jacket, matching pair of slacks and leather dress shoes. He had even nicked his father's watch for the evening, wearing it on his left hand which was extended to his date.

"I told you I would." He pulled her closer and winked. Melinda felt her face grow hot.

"Ready to go?" Melinda asked, flustered and nervous. She could sense Leo looking out from the attic window, but unseen due to the height of which he looked down.

Jason opened the passenger side door, ensuring Melinda was in her seat without her dress being damaged before he close to sprinted to the driver's seat and drove off. Traffic was light, odd for a Saturday night at 7pm. Melinda thought it was sweet Jason has texted her earlier in the day saying he would pick her up for their date.

Wyatt stood at the entrance of the restaurant, smiling at his sister faintly but trying to look as though he was waiting for someone else to arrive. He leaned on the brick exterior of the building, subtly nodding to the employee in some kind of mutual agreement without Melinda or Jason seemingly noticing.

Piper had made sure the piano player stuck around all night, paying in advance for his services before he couldn't disappear halfway through because the manager had only half up-front like so many other times. She set up a table in the smaller outdoors sections she had built when converting the club into the restaurant; the area partially obstructed by foliage and a set of sliding glass doors. Candles sat on the empty tables and fairy lights decorated the banister and roof in soft multicoloured lights.

"Spared no expense, huh?" Jason gazed around at the lights, listening to the music coming from inside the restaurant through the closed doors. He seemed happy.

"We have a bit of privacy." The glass door opened wide enough for someone to step through. Jason smirked at their server. Chris.

Jason read off the menu what he wanted, and Chris already knew what Mel opted for with her food. The girl loved her ravioli dishes, especially the homemade kind their mother had made that day just for her. Jason had stolen some from her bowl and grinned in appreciation of the great food.

He must have been having a good time, there were no snarky comments made in jests, or inappropriate jokes made. Just serious discussion, flirting glanced and shy smiles through the meal.

The pair hadn't been able to get to dessert before a loud crash was heard from inside the restaurant followed by panicked screams. Jason scrambled to his feet, Melinda's hands held tightly in his behind his back.

"What the-?" Jason and Melinda ducked just before a fireball flew above their heads.

Demons had come to ruin the party! Just what they needed.

The innocents had been evacuated, all except Jason, who kneeled in front of Melinda outside in any vain effort to prevent her from being hurt. No magic folk, much less any mortal, could not prevent serious injury from being hit by a fireball, if they didn't die first.

The young pair had crouch walked as quickly as they could (Melinda attested it was so much easier in games and movies) to the inner section of the restaurant. Piper stood with her hands balled up at her sides as three demons stood in front of her.

"Ready to die, witch?" The one on Piper's left snarled, an energy ball grew in his right hand primed to throw.

"Not tonight, but you are." Piper smirked, her hands opening palms first in front of her face. The energy ball fizzled out at the demon quickly exploded in a fiery painful explosion.

The demon on the right looked horrified, looking at his comrade's demise before he too yelled out in pain. A slow, painful cry erupted as Wyatt and Chris had both used their powers to vanquish the frightened demon.

"Zankou will be pleased you are still fighting." The single remaining demon smirked before shimmering out of the room. Piper exhaled sharply, quickly observing that her restaurant was a mess.

"Is everyone okay?" She asked, seeing her sons both nod in confirmation. Piper saw Melinda stand up, hand-clasped with Jason. "Oh no!"


End file.
